## What it measures Completion rate, by sex, location, wealth quintile and education level (%) — upper-secondary education is the canonical measurable outcome used to reconcile catalog item 53. It belongs to **Education, Skills, and Human Development**, the part of the welfare catalog concerned with learning, educational progression, capabilities, and access to future opportunities. The exact stored unit is **PERCENT**, the geographic presentation is global, the data publisher is **United Nations Statistics Division**, and the immutable numerical identity is `UN-SDG-4.1.2#SE_TOT_CPLR#Education level=UPPSEC|Location=ALLAREA|Quantile=_T|Reporting Type=G|Sex=BOTHSEX#identity`. The preliminary catalog candidate 53 is reconciled to the exact official series “Completion rate, by sex, location, wealth quintile and education level (%) — upper-secondary education” in PERCENT. This is a deliberate canonical correction: the database title names what the values actually measure, while the input wording remains in the reconciliation and audit trail. No hidden proxy label, fallback series, or silently substituted denominator remains. For catalog item 53, the provider definition is: Completion rate, by sex, location, wealth quintile and education level (%). The stored rows are the official World aggregate for SDG indicator 4.1.2, series SE_TOT_CPLR, constrained to Education level=UPPSEC|Location=ALLAREA|Quantile=_T|Reporting Type=G|Sex=BOTHSEX. That definition controls the denominator, population, reporting instrument, and statistical meaning. The Russian seed wording does not override it, and provider units and denominators remain unchanged. This Indicator records an observed outcome; it does not assert why that outcome changed. Welfare assessment for item 53 uses `higher_is_better`. Higher observations are treated as better welfare relative to the dated comparative reference. The direction applies to the stored official measure after the disclosed transformation, if any, rather than being inferred from an emotionally positive or negative title. No mathematical transformation is applied before persistence. Keeping title, series identity, unit, scope, transformation, and interpretation together prevents the record from mixing incompatible measurement concepts. ## How it is measured The numerical observations for catalog item 53 were retrieved from **United Nations Global SDG Indicators Database** through https://unstats.un.org/SDGAPI/v1/sdg/Indicator/Data?indicator=4.1.2&areaCode=1&pageSize=1000. The provider landing page is https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/database?indicator=4.1.2. The research package records the access date, exact dataset and series identifiers, dimension key `Education level=UPPSEC|Location=ALLAREA|Quantile=_T|Reporting Type=G|Sex=BOTHSEX`, unit, provider metadata, transformation, and yearly aggregation label. The bounded Source and Evidence records can therefore reproduce which numbers were used without treating a generic homepage as row-level proof. Measurement provenance for item 53 follows this provider method: The United Nations database supplies a World aggregate for the exact series and dimension tuple. Factrail stores that published global observation and does not recompute it from country rows. 2018 uses the provider-published World aggregate; 2019 uses the provider-published World aggregate; 2020 uses the provider-published World aggregate; 2021 uses the provider-published World aggregate; 2022 uses the provider-published World aggregate; 2023 uses the provider-published World aggregate; 2024 uses the provider-published World aggregate. The output keeps full numerical precision through NormalLine, deviation, and interpretation calculations. Display clients may round for readability, but the persisted value is not squeezed into a zero-to-one score and is not rounded before calculation. The item 53 NormalLine starts on 2018-01-01 at **60.1 PERCENT**. 75th percentile of retained official World observations across the disclosed publication window. The calculation keeps the source unit, dimensions, and transformation fixed and is a comparative reference rather than an invented statutory target. For `zero_is_norm`, the value is exactly zero and is never relaxed because non-zero observations are common. For other interpretation modes, the benchmark is empirical and versioned: a later provider revision can justify a new dated line, but it does not silently rewrite the research package used for this seed. For every item 53 point, `normal_line_value` copies that dated line and `deviation_from_normal` is stored in raw-unit terms as observation minus NormalLine. Arithmetic sign and welfare sign are separate. A positive raw deviation is adverse for `lower_is_better`, favourable for `higher_is_better`, and adverse above zero for `zero_is_norm`. The custom governance score retains its provider scale and uses the public methodology explanation rather than title sentiment. ## What the data shows The complete retained sequence is 2018: 56.1 PERCENT; 2019: 57.1 PERCENT; 2020: 58.1 PERCENT; 2021: 59 PERCENT; 2022: 59.8 PERCENT; 2023: 60.4 PERCENT; 2024: 61.1 PERCENT. The first observation is **56.1 PERCENT in 2018** and the latest is **61.1 PERCENT in 2024**. The absolute change is 5 PERCENT, equivalent to 8.91265597148% of the absolute starting level. The minimum observed value is 56.1 PERCENT, and the maximum is 61.1 PERCENT. For catalog item 53, the latest observation differs from the NormalLine by **1 PERCENT** and is classified as **positive** under `higher_is_better`. That classification is a deterministic comparison, not a causal explanation or editorial verdict. A movement may reflect real change, altered reporting coverage, revised estimates, a changed survey frame, or several of those at once. There are 7 retained item 53 observations in the selected 2018-2025 research window. The retained observations satisfy the minimum temporal rule without interpolation, extrapolation, or forward filling. Missing years are absent observations, not zeroes. The sequence is intentionally irregular when the official source is irregular, because a smooth-looking line created by invented values would be methodologically false. The displayed global item 53 sequence has one consistent numerical identity: `UN-SDG-4.1.2#SE_TOT_CPLR#Education level=UPPSEC|Location=ALLAREA|Quantile=_T|Reporting Type=G|Sex=BOTHSEX#identity`. No second source series is spliced into a gap, no latest value is copied into a missing year, and no country-only observation is relabelled as a World value. If the source later adds or revises an observation, the update must arrive as a new reviewed research package with its own checksum and audit record. ## Drivers and interpretation Completion rate, by sex, location, wealth quintile and education level (%) — upper-secondary education can be associated with economic, institutional, demographic, environmental, behavioural, or service-delivery mechanisms, but this seed does not create a DriverIndicatorImpact from topical resemblance. A defensible graph edge requires an existing Driver, direction, strength, lag, confidence, and Source/Evidence that supports the mechanism. The outcome series alone cannot establish that causal chain. For item 53, importance weight **0.8500000000000001** is generated by `indicator-importance-rubric-v1`. Its five committed components are directness 0.9, population reach 0.75, persistence 0.85, effect on human capabilities 0.9, and overlap control 0.9. The formula weights them 0.35, 0.25, 0.20, 0.15, and 0.05, then rounds to the nearest 0.05. The value is deterministic and reproducible; it is not an intuitive score assigned while drafting prose. ## Limitations and caveats The 2018-2024 sequence for item 53 is too short for strong causal or structural claims. Cross-economy comparability can be affected by institutional definitions, survey coverage, modelled estimates, missing observations, classification practices, revisions, and unequal statistical capacity. A global aggregate or unweighted reporting-economy mean can also conceal distributional extremes and should not be used as an individual-level estimate. The item 53 NormalLine is a transparent comparative reference, not a claim that every jurisdiction has the same legal target or feasible frontier. The source may revise both historical points and metadata. Any later refresh must preserve the earlier Source, Evidence, checksum, and audit trail; it must not mutate the meaning of an already reviewed series identity.
How to read it
Higher is better — readings above the norm count as better.
Measured value over time. The line runs green while the indicator is better than its dashed norm and red when it’s worse.
Each driver linked to this indicator, strongest pull first, on the same timeline above. Markers are the facts that moved that driver. These are modelled influences — treat them as correlational unless a documented causal edge is shown.
No drivers are linked to this indicator yet.
Completion rate, by sex, location, wealth quintile and education level (%) — upper-secondary education is the canonical measurable outcome used to reconcile catalog item 53. It belongs to Education, Skills, and Human Development, the part of the welfare catalog concerned with learning, educational progression, capabilities, and access to future opportunities. The exact stored unit is PERCENT, the geographic presentation is global, the data publisher is United Nations Statistics Division, and the immutable numerical identity is UN-SDG-4.1.2#SE_TOT_CPLR#Education level=UPPSEC|Location=ALLAREA|Quantile=_T|Reporting Type=G|Sex=BOTHSEX#identity. The preliminary catalog candidate 53 is reconciled to the exact official series “Completion rate, by sex, location, wealth quintile and education level (%) — upper-secondary education” in PERCENT. This is a deliberate canonical correction: the database title names what the values actually measure, while the input wording remains in the reconciliation and audit trail. No hidden proxy label, fallback series, or silently substituted denominator remains.
For catalog item 53, the provider definition is: Completion rate, by sex, location, wealth quintile and education level (%). The stored rows are the official World aggregate for SDG indicator 4.1.2, series SE_TOT_CPLR, constrained to Education level=UPPSEC|Location=ALLAREA|Quantile=_T|Reporting Type=G|Sex=BOTHSEX. That definition controls the denominator, population, reporting instrument, and statistical meaning. The Russian seed wording does not override it, and provider units and denominators remain unchanged. This Indicator records an observed outcome; it does not assert why that outcome changed.
Welfare assessment for item 53 uses higher_is_better. Higher observations are treated as better welfare relative to the dated comparative reference. The direction applies to the stored official measure after the disclosed transformation, if any, rather than being inferred from an emotionally positive or negative title. No mathematical transformation is applied before persistence. Keeping title, series identity, unit, scope, transformation, and interpretation together prevents the record from mixing incompatible measurement concepts.
The numerical observations for catalog item 53 were retrieved from United Nations Global SDG Indicators Database through https://unstats.un.org/SDGAPI/v1/sdg/Indicator/Data?indicator=4.1.2&areaCode=1&pageSize=1000 (opens in a new tab). The provider landing page is https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/database?indicator=4.1.2 (opens in a new tab). The research package records the access date, exact dataset and series identifiers, dimension key Education level=UPPSEC|Location=ALLAREA|Quantile=_T|Reporting Type=G|Sex=BOTHSEX, unit, provider metadata, transformation, and yearly aggregation label. The bounded Source and Evidence records can therefore reproduce which numbers were used without treating a generic homepage as row-level proof.
Measurement provenance for item 53 follows this provider method: The United Nations database supplies a World aggregate for the exact series and dimension tuple. Factrail stores that published global observation and does not recompute it from country rows. 2018 uses the provider-published World aggregate; 2019 uses the provider-published World aggregate; 2020 uses the provider-published World aggregate; 2021 uses the provider-published World aggregate; 2022 uses the provider-published World aggregate; 2023 uses the provider-published World aggregate; 2024 uses the provider-published World aggregate. The output keeps full numerical precision through NormalLine, deviation, and interpretation calculations. Display clients may round for readability, but the persisted value is not squeezed into a zero-to-one score and is not rounded before calculation.
The item 53 NormalLine starts on 2018-01-01 at 60.1 PERCENT. 75th percentile of retained official World observations across the disclosed publication window. The calculation keeps the source unit, dimensions, and transformation fixed and is a comparative reference rather than an invented statutory target. For zero_is_norm, the value is exactly zero and is never relaxed because non-zero observations are common. For other interpretation modes, the benchmark is empirical and versioned: a later provider revision can justify a new dated line, but it does not silently rewrite the research package used for this seed.
For every item 53 point, normal_line_value copies that dated line and deviation_from_normal is stored in raw-unit terms as observation minus NormalLine. Arithmetic sign and welfare sign are separate. A positive raw deviation is adverse for lower_is_better, favourable for higher_is_better, and adverse above zero for zero_is_norm. The custom governance score retains its provider scale and uses the public methodology explanation rather than title sentiment.
The complete retained sequence is 2018: 56.1 PERCENT; 2019: 57.1 PERCENT; 2020: 58.1 PERCENT; 2021: 59 PERCENT; 2022: 59.8 PERCENT; 2023: 60.4 PERCENT; 2024: 61.1 PERCENT. The first observation is 56.1 PERCENT in 2018 and the latest is 61.1 PERCENT in 2024. The absolute change is 5 PERCENT, equivalent to 8.91265597148% of the absolute starting level. The minimum observed value is 56.1 PERCENT, and the maximum is 61.1 PERCENT.
For catalog item 53, the latest observation differs from the NormalLine by 1 PERCENT and is classified as positive under higher_is_better. That classification is a deterministic comparison, not a causal explanation or editorial verdict. A movement may reflect real change, altered reporting coverage, revised estimates, a changed survey frame, or several of those at once.
There are 7 retained item 53 observations in the selected 2018-2025 research window. The retained observations satisfy the minimum temporal rule without interpolation, extrapolation, or forward filling. Missing years are absent observations, not zeroes. The sequence is intentionally irregular when the official source is irregular, because a smooth-looking line created by invented values would be methodologically false.
The displayed global item 53 sequence has one consistent numerical identity: UN-SDG-4.1.2#SE_TOT_CPLR#Education level=UPPSEC|Location=ALLAREA|Quantile=_T|Reporting Type=G|Sex=BOTHSEX#identity. No second source series is spliced into a gap, no latest value is copied into a missing year, and no country-only observation is relabelled as a World value. If the source later adds or revises an observation, the update must arrive as a new reviewed research package with its own checksum and audit record.
Completion rate, by sex, location, wealth quintile and education level (%) — upper-secondary education can be associated with economic, institutional, demographic, environmental, behavioural, or service-delivery mechanisms, but this seed does not create a DriverIndicatorImpact from topical resemblance. A defensible graph edge requires an existing Driver, direction, strength, lag, confidence, and Source/Evidence that supports the mechanism. The outcome series alone cannot establish that causal chain.
For item 53, importance weight 0.8500000000000001 is generated by indicator-importance-rubric-v1. Its five committed components are directness 0.9, population reach 0.75, persistence 0.85, effect on human capabilities 0.9, and overlap control 0.9. The formula weights them 0.35, 0.25, 0.20, 0.15, and 0.05, then rounds to the nearest 0.05. The value is deterministic and reproducible; it is not an intuitive score assigned while drafting prose.
The 2018-2024 sequence for item 53 is too short for strong causal or structural claims. Cross-economy comparability can be affected by institutional definitions, survey coverage, modelled estimates, missing observations, classification practices, revisions, and unequal statistical capacity. A global aggregate or unweighted reporting-economy mean can also conceal distributional extremes and should not be used as an individual-level estimate.
The item 53 NormalLine is a transparent comparative reference, not a claim that every jurisdiction has the same legal target or feasible frontier. The source may revise both historical points and metadata. Any later refresh must preserve the earlier Source, Evidence, checksum, and audit trail; it must not mutate the meaning of an already reviewed series identity.
Factrail hasn’t mapped a verified causal chain for this indicator yet. This reflects the relationships currently captured in the graph.